62.9 F
Davis

Davis, California

Monday, March 18, 2024

UC Davis Academic Senate extends Pass/No Pass deadline for winter quarter

ASUCD Academic Affairs Commission urged Academic Senate to extend deadline for the remainder of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

By KATIE DEBENEDETTI — campus@theaggie.org

 

On Jan. 13, the UC Davis Academic Senate voted to extend the Pass/No Pass deadline for winter quarter to the last day of the quarter’s instruction. Previously, the deadline had been set at the 20th day of instruction for each quarter of the 2020-21 academic year. 

In a letter addressed to the administration on Jan. 6, the ASUCD Academic Affairs Commission (AAC) urged the university to permanently extend the Pass/No Pass deadline to the last week of instruction until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic to alleviate student stress and increase academic flexibility. The AAC claimed that based on a recent survey on the matter, 94% of the 861 students who responded to the survey said that the deadline was too early in the quarter for them to efficiently use the accommodation at this time. 

Radhika Gawde, a second-year political science major and an ASUCD senator, said that the COVID-19 pandemic poses academic challenges for students that requires additional flexibility from the university.

“I think it’s fairly apparent even to faculty administrators that the COVID-19 crisis is an extenuating circumstance that’s facing students,” Gawde said. “It impedes our ability to perform well in our classes, many of us have jobs or have to take care of sick family members. And, if you fall sick during the quarter system, it’s so easy to fall behind.”

Gawde said that she and the AAC are continuing to push for a permanent extension of the Pass/No Pass deadline, as many students face academic challenges aside from COVID-19 that will require increased flexibility even after the pandemic. 

“I wish [the Academic Senate] would give the same credence to other extenuating circumstances, like other health issues beyond COVID, for a permanent extension of the Pass/No Pass, because it shouldn’t take a global pandemic for faculty to give additional academic flexibilities to students,” Gawde said. “Students have lives, a lot of us have to work to pay our rent, and we have health issues. It’s great that they recognize that COVID-19 is an extenuating circumstance, but students have to struggle with things like this all the time.”

 

Written by: Katie DeBenedetti — campus@theaggie.org

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here